Shift Wire

A U.S. District Court judge slammed the Environmental Protection Agency’s destruction of emails sought by the conservative Landmark Legal Foundation in a 2012 Freedom Of Immigration Request. The Washington Examiner,

Though Judge Royce C. Lamberth denied the request for sanctions against the EPA by Landmark, which is run by conservative talk show host and former Reagan staffer Mark Levin, she lambasted the agency over its actions in response to Landmark’s 2012 FOIA request.

“Either way,” Lamberth added, it “reflects poorly upon EPA and surely serves to diminish the public’s trust in the agency.”

Landmark sought emails, text messages and other material from high-ranking EPA officials, including former EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, related to the the release dates of key environmental regulations. Landmark was seeking to determine if EPA officials purposely delayed the implementation of the regulations until after the November 6, 2012, presidential election in order to shield President Obama from political damage.

Millions of consumers “who got financial help with health insurance premiums under President Barack Obama’s law” will have added hassle this tax-filing season. The Associated Press,

The government sent consumers erroneous information on forms that they need to complete their 2014 tax returns.

Now these people are getting robocalls and emails advising them to delay filing until the mistakes are fixed…

“It’s been a comedy of errors from the start,” said K.C. Crafts, a freelance financial writer from South Berwick, Maine…

The mistake the government made affected 800,000 customers receiving subsidized health coverage through the federal insurance market. Some states running their own insurance exchanges also have had tax-form troubles.

Oregon state officials have confirmed that the Internal Revenue Service has “joined federal and local agencies investigating criminal corruption allegations involving former Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber and his fiancée.” Reuters,

“Kitzhaber resigned this month amid state and federal criminal probes into an influence-peddling scandal involving allegations that his fiancée, Cylvia Hayes, used her unpaid position in the governor’s office for personal financial gain…

The state’s top lawyer and the U.S. Justice Department have launched separate criminal corruption investigations into the allegations that Hayes sought financial gain from her position in the governor’s office…

The FBI is seeking information on Kitzhaber’s policies as well as his fiancée’s tax returns and information related to her role in state government, according to Justice Department subpoenas. Federal subpoenas also request information contained in Kitzhaber’s email correspondence.”